Away-day guide
The Hawthorns, the Baggies.
Quick takeaways
About the place
The Hawthorns sits just off Junction 1 of the M5, and is well served by public transport from Birmingham.
It’s a historic but modern stadium, with a distinct layout where all four stands are built as unified, single-tiered seating blocks. The ground maximises capacity through steep inclines and rows that curve directly into the corners. This forms an unbroken wall of fans, keeping the crowd packed tightly together.
The Hawthorns is the highest ground in the Football League, and in midwinter it can be bitterly cold. The very front rows can get rained on, which will make a cold day even worse (we speak from experience). Sitting further back in the stand makes a noticeable difference.
On an evening game, you’ll notice the floodlights before the stadium. Outside stands a statue of club legend Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown, the club’s leading goalscorer.
Away fans are housed in the Smethwick End, which is on the South side of the ground. It’s a good away end, behind the goal on one side, with safe standing in the upper tier.
Club info
Section 02
Train + West Midlands Metro (tram)
One of the easiest ways to get there is to take the train into Birmingham New Street, then head outside to the Grand Central tram stop. From there you can take the tram to The Hawthorns. Services run every 8-10 minutes, and the journey takes 15 minutes.
Train + local train
Alternatively, take the train into New Street, then walk over to Birmingham Snow Hill station (7-8 minutes) to pick up a West Midlands Rail service out to The Hawthorns. This is only a 7-minute journey.
By car
The Hawthorns is just a few minutes away from the M5, making it one of the easiest getaways onto the motorway network (if you can beat the local post-match traffic, that is).
Section 03
Parking options
There isn’t an official matchday car park at the stadium for away fans, so parking options are limited to local matchday parking sites, on-street parking and pre-booked spaces via apps such as JustPark.
There are 5 designated accessible spaces available for away fans directly via the club. These must be booked in advance by emailing the Disability Liaison Officer liz.massey@wbafc.co.uk, or going through your own club system.
Near the stadium
Min walk
Directly opposite the stadium on Halfords Lane.
Halfords Ln, West Bromwich B71 4LG
Notes
It’s close, secure and reasonably priced. The trade-off is that you’ll have to get there before Halfords Lane is closed (90 mins before kick-off). Expect delays getting away as well.
Min walk
Fully patrolled by an event parking company.
Birmingham Rd, West Bromwich B70 6TU
Notes
It sits outside of the post-match road closure zone, but it’s not immune from a slow getaway.
Min walk
A popular spot mentioned online for away fans who want to avoid the chaos on the A41.
1 Beeches Rd, West Bromwich B70 6QE
Notes
The benefit of this option is that you’re right by the motorway junction.
Min walk
On-street parking, used by home and away fans.
Notes
As always, on-street parking is at your own risk. This option is close to the away end, but on the wrong side of the post-match stadium traffic if you want to head towards the M5 at J1.
Min walk
A matchday parking site run by a local business at the end of Piaro Way (off Dartmouth Road), near the M5 roundabout.
Piaro Way, Smethwick B66 1AR
Notes
It can still be slow to get out, but it’s much better than being over near the stadium. 10 minutes to The Hawthorns, with a footpath shortcut out of the car park.
Further out
Min walk
Retail and leisure complex in West Bromwich town centre.
New Square Shopping Centre, Cronehills Linkway, West Bromwich, B70 7PP
Notes
It has over 30 stores, an Odeon cinema, and a selection of restaurants, making it a convenient hub for shopping, dining, and matchday parking. 4 minutes by West Midlands Metro tram from the adjacent West Bromwich Central stop.
Matchday road closures
Matchday road closures are in place before and after matches, to allow people to move around the stadium safely. These measures can cause heavy traffic on the A41 and around the M5 junction. The following roads are affected:
Halfords Lane (from the Railway Bridge to the A41) — closed 90 minutes before kick-off and 40 minutes after the full-time whistle.
A41 Birmingham Road — the main road connecting the stadium to the motorway.
Pre-match: a lane closure is in place to allow people to access the stadium on foot. This begins 95 minutes before kick-off.
Post-match: full closure of the Westbound carriageway (towards the M5), beginning 10 minutes before full-time, until 40 minutes after the game. The section affected is between Park Lane and Screwfix.
Post-match traffic
The A41 towards Birmingham is not closed after games. However, the whole area is affected, with traffic backing up onto smaller surrounding streets.
Because The Hawthorns sits only half a mile from Junction 1 of the M5, the roundabout quickly becomes overloaded post-match.
Traffic backing up from the motorway affects all roads nearby, freezing local junctions.
For the fastest possible exit, it’s best to park north or west of the stadium (such as Kenrick Way or the Mercure Hotel). This avoids the A41 closure. There are two things to note:
Section 04
Food around The Hawthorns is a mix of classic matchday food and some of the best Desi pub cooking in the country. The standout is The Vine, a famous institution on the away day circuit.
If you’re looking for quick eats, there’s a Subway, McDonald’s and a Greggs by the stadium on Birmingham Road, as well as a selection of food vans.
Closer to the stadium
152 Roebuck St, West Bromwich B70 6RD — about 15-20 minutes from the stadium
Widely considered one of the most iconic away-day destinations in English football, The Vine is a legendary Desi pub on Roebuck Street, about 15-20 minutes from the stadium. It sits very close to Kenrick Park Metro station. While it looks like a traditional pub from the front, it opens up into a massive indoor and outdoor space. You’ll get a mixed home and away crowd in here. Many fans skip stadium food to queue for its famous indoor tandoori charcoal grill, which serves up fresh naan, chicken tikka, and mixed grill platters, alongside local real ales. Due to its reputation, the pub gets incredibly busy on matchdays, making it essential to arrive two to three hours before kick-off to secure a spot.
171 Holyhead Road, Birmingham, B21 0BD
A popular, independent Desi pub that serves traditional Indian mixed grills, curries, and drinks, making it a good choice for away fans. If you’re on the West Midlands Metro tram from Birmingham city centre, get off at Handsworth Booth Street stop, which is two minutes from the pub. The stadium is a straightforward ten-minute walk from there.
190 All Saints Way, West Bromwich, B71 1RH — 2.5 miles away from The Hawthorns
An award-winning, family-run establishment recognised as one of the largest Desi pubs in the country. It has a separate bar area, an outdoor terrace, and multiple screens showing live sports. It is incredibly popular with football fans and foodies alike for its grills and curries.
Directly outside the stadium gates
Located directly outside the stadium gates. Visiting supporters gain entry by simply showing their away end match ticket at the barrier. Features a giant screen broadcasting the early live football fixtures, a licensed bar selling alcohol, and a fast-food outlet. Note that the bar stops serving alcohol 30 minutes before kick-off.
Birmingham Rd, West Bromwich B70 6TU
The hotel bar actively caters to visiting football crowds. A parking option, as well.
Inside the ground
On the concourse you’ll find pies, burgers, sausage rolls and pizza slices.
Section 05
It’s a good away end, with safe standing in the upper section. If you’re sat near the front, the first few rows can get rained upon. Every stadium has its own microclimate — it’s noticeably less cold if you’re further back.
You can get to the away entrance from any direction prior to the game. But at full-time, you have to leave via Loverose Way in the southeast corner, which takes you down to Middlemore Road. Great for the coaches, not so much if you’ve parked the other side of the ground to be closer to the M5!
Section 06
Given the proximity of the M5, we drove in and looked for matchday parking. We accidentally found our way to Mornington Road, on the East side of the stadium, in the middle of an industrial estate. We saw people parking up, so we copied them.
The walk to the ground took about 10-15 minutes, but it was lashing it down. There was no cover, so by the time we found the path to the stadium from Middlemore Road, we were soaked and freezing.
We hit the concourse to warm up. They serve the usual suspects, but also pizza slices, so we went for that. Not bad. We headed for our seats, which were down the front of the Smethwick End. The seats were wet. And the rain was blowing in on us. If you’ve ever tried to dry something, using something that is already wet (our sleeves), you’ll know that it’s pointless. So, we started off cold and wet, and got more cold and wet during the game.
At the full-time whistle, we followed the crowd back down to Middlemore Road. Back to the car to put the heater on. I checked the sat nav. Red traffic all around the ground.
"Dad, I’m hungry".
"So am I".
Hungry kids. Gridlock towards the M5. I chose the least bad option, and headed into Smethwick to find food. The only problem was that I didn’t know where anything was.
We finally found somewhere. As we were looking at the menu:
"Dad, have you seen number 23? Sheep testicles!"
Bloody hell.
We found something a bit more mainstream on the menu, but the kids hated it. So now we could add awful food to the review of the day, along with getting soaked and freezing our backsides off for 2 hours.
By the time we’d eaten, the traffic had eased up, so we got back on the M5 without much hassle.
Next time: park on the M5 side of the ground. Lesson learned.
West Brom away again in December, under the lights. It was going to be freezing, so we went prepared. Hats, scarves, gloves, hand warmers, two pairs of socks. Layers. Raincoats. The lot. We weren’t going to get caught out like last time.
We parked at a matchday parking site on Piaro Way — an industrial estate, near to the M5 roundabout. We had learned that lesson, too.
From the car park, we could see the floodlights, so we just followed the light.
We were in the safe standing section this time, towards the back of the stand. It was another cold evening, but we weren’t cold at all (admittedly we had 5 layers on, but we ended up taking layers off as it was warmer up the back of the stand).
After the game, we were ready to beat the traffic. But we were funnelled down bloody Loverose Way again.
We didn’t notice that we had to go that way last time, because that was the way we wanted to go. Not this time.
We wandered back round the stadium and saw a burger van that was still open. We caved in and ate in the street. At this point we’d lost at least 20 minutes from our quick getaway. By the time we got back to the car park, there was a queue of red brake lights. Nothing moving. There was no point joining the queue and sitting in traffic with the engine on.
So, we had a 15-minute kickabout, before cars started to move. It was still slow up to the M5 junction, but fine once we’d joined the motorway.
After two visits, we haven’t cracked the getaway. Maybe we’ll park on the other side of the M5 next time, see if that’s any better.
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